Greek Mythology Art Pieces- Toni Mckoy
Perseus and the Gorgons Perseus and Medusa Ivory Relief Early Greek Myth p.305 Samos Greece, Samos Museum Accession numeber: E1 Theoi.com: Quest for the Gorgon's Head Samous Museum: Samous Museum Full Image here Shield-Band Olympia Greece.The Archaeological Museum of Olympia, Accession number: B 975 Theoi.com: Quest for the Gorgon's Head The Archaeological Museum of Olympia: Olympia Museum The shield-band in in three pieces. In this image, the tale of Perseus and Medusa is portrayed on the lower half of the shield-band Full Image here Chalkidian Amphora London, United Kingdom. British Museum. Accession number: B 155 Theoi.com: Quest for the Gorgon's Head Bristish Museum.org: British Museum Full Image Here Full Image Here Assessment of Art B 155 The London B 155 piece is a Chalkidian Amphora painted vase located at the London British Museum. Chalkidian vase production started in 560 BC and ended around 510 BC. This particular vase is dated to about 520 BC. However, the discovery date is unknown. Chalkidian means that the vase is a black-figure painted vase and is inscribed with Archaic Greek alphabet. Amphora refers to the style of the vase, which has two handles that join the neck and body of the vase. The neck is usually narrow and longer than an average vase and takes two hands to be able to lift and pour, although they were mostly used for decoration. Although the painting on the vase is somewhat damaged, it shows the story of how Perseus obtained the items that would help him in his tasks. The three nymphs can be seen presenting Perseus with the magical items as he stands to the right of the image with Athena standing behind him. The winged sandals of Hermes, the Cap of Hades, which grants invisibility, and the Kibisis, or pouch that will later hold the head of Medusa, are seen in their hands. In this vase painting, Perseus is already holding his sword and is ready to begin his task of bringing back the head of the gorgon Medusa. The vase relates to all the literary sources viewed because, in all of them, the magical items Perseus received are mentioned and play a huge part in completing his task. Even without knowing what the items did specifically or why he needed them, from the painting, you can see that they are significant to his story. The piece is very important and valuable in telling part of the story of Perseus. It shows how Perseus was favored by the gods, especially Athena, and how he obtained magical items that would each later help him in his adventures and to complete his task. It tells a part of one of the greatest and well-known myths of a hero and, because it was an Amphora vase, it was meant to be for decoration, to be the center of the table and for everyone to see and admire. It played the part of being a constant reminder of this great hero and his quest. To help me in the assessment of the vase, how important it was, and its significance, I used several sources to learn about the art pieces: *Gantz, Timothy. "Perseus and Bellerophontes." In [http://www.bibme.org/# Early Greek myth]. Baltimore Johns Hopkins Univ. Press, 1996. 305., *Wikimedia Foundation. "Amphora." Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amphora (accessed April 18, 2014). *Wikimedia Foundation. "Chalkidian." Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amphora (accessed April 18, 2014). *[http://www.bibme.org/# Harris, Stephen L., and Gloria Platzner. "Heroes of Myth." In [http://www.bibme.org/# Classical mythology: images and insights]. 5th ed. Mountain View, Calif.: Mayfield Pub. Co., 2008. 319-320. *"PERSEUS : Hero ; Greek mythology ; pictures." PERSEUS : Hero ; Greek mythology ; pictures. http://www.theoi.com/Heros/Perseus.html (accessed April 14, 2014).